Collins College of Business Magazine

F A L L 2 0 1 5 2 5 Professors Jackson and Cravens receive Outstanding Teacher Award The Outstanding Teacher Award is among the highest honors The University of Tulsa bestows. It can only be won once. Previous winners have set a high standard that has made this honor coveted and respected. Award winners are assured that a consensus exists among students and colleagues that their teaching is meritorious in the highest tradition of the university. This year, two professors in the Collins College of Business received this prestigious distinction: Ralph W. Jackson, associate professor of marketing and Karen S. Cravens, director of the School of Accounting and Management Information Systems and Chapman Professor of Accounting. Jackson, who has been at the university since 1985 and chair of the Department of Management and Marketing for the past 19 years, is a dedicated and engaging teacher who has shown consistent teaching excellence throughout his career at TU. He seamlessly blends his research interests — buyer behavior, ethics, sales and sales management, social responsibility in business and volunteer and donor behavior — into classroom lectures and presentations. Often using complex business cases published by Harvard Business Review in his classes, Jackson uniquely teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate management and marketing courses, as well as MBA courses. In addition, he has overseen numerous internships and nonprofit practica. In recommending Jackson for this award, his colleagues commented, "It is remarkable for a faculty member at any university to remain so highly motivated and to continue inspiring students over nearly 30 years. This is all the more impressive when one considers he has accomplished this while fulfilling his administrative responsibilities, assisting and overseeing a department of 11-12 faculty members and serving on a number of college and university committees." Ensuring that his students learn rather than merely get good grades is the common theme among his student nominators, who noted: "He was very thorough in our essay critiques, which actually shocked me on the depth of thought he put into each student. I thank him for caring." Jackson embodies one of the characteristics that makes the university special — being easily accessible to students in and out of the classroom. One student wrote, "He's an exceptional instructor: available, relevant and engaging." Jackson's teaching methods, including case studies, help his students experience the types of challenges they'll face in the work - place in the safe environment of the classroom. One student noted: "Group discussions and projects pulled us out of lectures, and case studies forced us to work with realistic problems and situations." Professor Jackson holds a doctorate from Texas A&M Univer- sity, a master of arts from Texas Christian University and a bach- elor of arts from Houston Baptist University. Cravens has a well-earned reputation for excellence in TU's Collins College of Business. Her faculty colleagues noted that her teaching has remained at the highest level over her 23 years at TU as has her leadership in so many other areas within our college. Her willingness to carry a higher teaching load than she had to, and do so at such a high level of excellence, is an example that the university should recognize." Cravens teaches cost and managerial accounting at the grad - uate and undergraduate levels and management control systems at the graduate level. Her student nominators note that, "She did an excellent job of using examples in class that required critical thinking and that really helped the class understand the material." Making challenging material and research accessible is the hallmark of great teaching. One student remarked that Cravens provided "activity-based learning and supplementary materials" to illuminate accounting principles. "I learned enough to carry me through any future situation in general business, and if I didn't learn it from Dr. Cravens, I know enough now about where to look." Cravens' research interests include management accounting issues such as transfer pricing, brand valuation, intangibles, positive organizational scholarship and performance measurement. She is particularly interested in the international environment and is on the editorial board of the Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation. She is widely published in U.S. and international professional journals. Previously, Cravens received the Collins College of Business Excellence in Teaching Award for 2006-2007 and the Research Excellence Award for 2000-2001 — testament to her remarkable classroom skills. Cravens, who is a licensed Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant, holds a doctorate in accounting from Texas A&M University, an MBA from Texas Christian University and a bachelor of arts from Vanderbilt University. She is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, honorary business fraternity; Beta Alpha Psi, honorary accounting fraternity; and the honor society of Phi Kappa Phi. ■ Jackson Cravens

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